Earn Passive Income on the XRP Ledger
Holding XRP on the XRP Ledger earns nothing by itself: there is no staking. What pays is providing liquidity to AMM pools, and the ledger shows exactly how much it paid. Last week, providers in every pool together earned 22,878 XRP on 28.98M XRP deposited, about 4.1% a year at that pace.
What liquidity paid last week
The largest pools pay the least as a share of their size, because the same trading fees are split across more liquidity. Higher figures belong to smaller pools, where a few trades move the number and the token behind it can lose most of its value in a week.
The options, honestly
Pays from: A share of every trade the pool fills.
The catch: Impermanent loss, and the token in the pool can collapse.
Pays from: The gap between your buy and sell prices, when both fill.
The catch: Active work: prices move past your orders, and each order holds 0.2 XRP.
Pays from: Does not exist on the XRP Ledger.
The catch: Anything offering it is off the ledger or a scam.
Pays from: Built into the server software, not switched on yet: vaults have 21 of 36 validators’ votes and lending 19, and each needs a lasting 80%.
The catch: Nothing to use until the network switches them on.
Pays from: Interest the company pays from lending your deposit.
The catch: Off the ledger: you hold a claim on the company, not the coins.
The risks that matter
- Impermanent loss. A pool of XRP and RLUSD moves exactly as far as XRP moves against the dollar; only two assets that keep the same price largely avoid it (how much it costs).
- The token behind the yield. A 100% APY on a token that halves in a week is a loss.
- Yield offers that ask for your keys or a signature. “Staking”, “rewards” and “earn” sites are the most common lure for wallet drainers (what they look like).
Questions
- Can you stake XRP?
- No. The XRP Ledger reaches agreement without staking, so there is nothing to stake XRP in. A site or message offering “XRP staking” is either an off-ledger lending product or a scam.
- How much can I earn providing liquidity on the XRP Ledger?
- Across all pools, last week’s fees came to about 4.1% a year of the XRP deposited. Single pools range from almost nothing to far more, and every figure changes weekly.
- Does an XRP/RLUSD pool avoid impermanent loss?
- No. RLUSD holds at a dollar while XRP moves, so the pool’s two sides drift apart exactly as far as XRP moves against the dollar. Only a pool of two assets that keep the same price, such as two dollar stablecoins, largely avoids it.